Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La, declared, "The reason why Herceptin is so valuable to patients who have locally advanced breast cancer
is they have a very bad prognosis. The cancers are usually bigger. They may have spread to the lymph nodes in the armpits and they're usually not small enough to be cut out to preserve the breast."
Effect of Herceptin on aggressive breast cancer examined
Researchers of the National Cancer Institute in Milan conducted a study to examine effect of Herceptin on locally advanced breast cancer which has bad prospects than an early operable form.
The researchers recruited 235 women in the study who all suffered from locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer.
They were randomly assigned to receive chemotherapy. Out of the group, 117 were also administered one year of Herceptin while the remaining 118 did not receive the drug but were given chemotherapy alone.
The researchers then compared the patients treated with chemotherapy and Herceptin combined for one year with patients treated with chemotherapy alone.
Findings of the study
The results revealed that at the end of three years 71 percent of the women treated with Herceptin were still alive without a recurrence as opposed to 56 percent of women in the control group who received chemotherapy only.
Besides the benefits of the treatment, the study confirmed the safety profile of Herceptin with few cardiac problems and a tolerance to the drug throughout the follow-up period.
Dr Lucca Gianni, director of medical oncology at the Institute who led the study, stated, "The addition of Herceptin to chemotherapy should be considered for women with HER2-positive locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer to improve event-free survival, survival, and clinical and pathological tumor responses."
He added, "The results have shown that in patients with HER2-positive locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer, addition of one year of Herceptin to chemotherapy improved overall response rates, almost doubled rates.”
The findings of the study have been published in the Lancet.
A little about aggressive cancer
Aggressive breast cancer is rare but destructive cancer in which the tumors spread rapidly. It can cause the breast to appear red and swollen, giving the appearance of inflammation.
This cancer type has a strong tendency to send metastases to other parts of the body. The most common treatment is to have the breasts completely removed because the disease poses such a high risk.
About 15 percent of all the breast cancer patients suffer from this aggressive type.
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